Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) Receives $47.33 Average PT from Analysts

Comcast Co. (NASDAQ:CMCSA) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

CMCSA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Comcast from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on Comcast from $47.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Comcast from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Comcast from $42.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Comcast in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Comcast Stock Performance

Shares of CMCSA opened at $33.66 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.01. Comcast has a 52-week low of $32.50 and a 52-week high of $47.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.07.

Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The cable giant reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.08. Comcast had a net margin of 11.92% and a return on equity of 19.81%. Research analysts forecast that Comcast will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comcast Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a $0.33 dividend. This is a boost from Comcast’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Comcast’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Michael J. Cavanagh sold 25,537 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.59, for a total transaction of $1,087,620.83. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 534,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,779,218.91. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian L. Roberts sold 234,464 shares of Comcast stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.66, for a total transaction of $10,002,234.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,669,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $284,539,128.48. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comcast

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMCSA. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Comcast by 55,334.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 8,273,052 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $345,565,000 after buying an additional 8,258,128 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Comcast by 5.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 117,420,328 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $4,904,647,000 after acquiring an additional 6,062,658 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Comcast by 530.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,429,298 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $143,242,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885,370 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Comcast by 211.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,890,571 shares of the cable giant’s stock worth $120,739,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Comcast by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 7,613,977 shares of the cable giant’s stock valued at $318,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,453 shares during the last quarter. 84.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Comcast

Comcast Corporation operates as a media and technology company worldwide. It operates through Residential Connectivity & Platforms, Business Services Connectivity, Media, Studios, and Theme Parks segments. The Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment provides residential broadband and wireless connectivity services, residential and business video services, sky-branded entertainment television networks, and advertising.